Christmas Day twister caught on video

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - The massive Christmas Day tornado formed over Mobile at dusk, so there was just enough light for thousands to sit back and watch it wreak havoc on the city.

And some of you were able to catch it on camera.

The massive storm inflicted its wrath right in front of Crystal Curry, blowing up power transformers down below.

"It was the coolest and scariest experience I ever had in my life,” said Curry. “I looked out, and I just opened my iPhone and started shooting, and there it was. You started seeing transformers pop, and then you saw a defined funnel on the ground, and it just kept getting bigger.”

Curry and her husband were staying in a 7th floor suite at the Battle House Hotel when she saw the ominous twister in the distance on Christmas Day.

Curry prayed while shooting the video. She said, "I was nervous. But the whole time I was thinking, 'My Lord! What are those people feeling that are actually in the storm's path?' I can't imagine."

It was a storm that was witnessed by thousands on the ground.

Photos: Midtown Mobile struck by tornado

FOX10 received video courtesy of Whitney Saraceno that showed the tornado near I-165.

And it was a storm that we watched live on FOX10 News.

But this wasn't new to Curry. Her stepdaughter lived in Tuscaloosa when the deadly 2011 tornado struck.

Curry thought back to that day as she shot the video.

"I was just thinking, ‘Oh Lord! That was during the daytime when that happened,' I can't imagine the sun had already set, and these people were having to go through this in the dark. I can't imagine it,” she said.

But Curry's thankful Mobile didn't face the same devastation that Tuscaloosa did.